The Suns inbound from the sideline at midcourt.
Steve Nash holds the ball.
Curry and Blake Su start moving off the ball. Carter and Frye step up to set screens, doing everything they can to free Curry and Blake Su for the catch and create clean looks.
But the Thunder aren't fools.
Durant and Russell Westbrook stick to Blake Su like glue, denying him not only a shot but even the chance to touch the ball.
Of course.
"Beard" Harden is locked onto Curry as well. Curry has already knocked down seven threes tonight—he's scorching hot and far too dangerous to leave unchecked.
On the sideline.
Steve Nash cradles the ball, scanning for an opening. Curry is covered. Carter is covered. Blake Su can't shake free cleanly either. The five-second count is about to run out.
"Whoosh!"
From the top of the arc, Blake Su suddenly spins and cuts back toward the midcourt circle. For a split second, he slips free of Durant and Russell Westbrook. Nash's eyes flash.
The pass flies out.
"Pop!"
The instant Blake Su catches it, he drives hard toward the paint, barreling straight at Durant and Russell Westbrook. He plants his foot and shifts laterally.
Screech!
He stops on a dime.
He has to.
There are only 1.6 seconds left.
Driving all the way in for a safer two to force overtime—buying time to rack up two more assists and complete the System's 40+ triple-double mission—has to be abandoned.
Even though Curry has shaken free on the perimeter, Blake Su can't swing it to him for the cleaner three.
There simply isn't time.
A full meter beyond the three-point line, Blake Su rises off the dribble. Kevin Durant's long arms loom right in front of him, but he still elevates, fading away as he releases a three.
Durant springs up, arm fully extended. He's a hair away from blocking it, and the contest is suffocating.
The moment the ball leaves Blake Su's fingertips, the buzzer sounds and the backboard lights up.
"Way too hard!"
"Blake Su isn't even known for three-point shooting! A meter beyond the arc, with Durant's arm in his face? That's impossible!"
"It's over!"
"The Thunder have this!"
Thunder fans are already throwing their hands in the air, faces lit with excitement as they prepare to celebrate.
Across the arena, Suns fans stare at the ball in flight, hearts lodged in their throats, silently pleading: Go in. Please go in.
The ball traces a high arc toward the rim.
Clang!
It slams off the rim and bounces high.
"Off the iron?!"
Every Suns fan feels their heart drop. Curry, Steve Nash, Carter—their hearts pound wildly.
"We won!"
A burly Thunder fan can't help shouting.
But—
The ball descends, catches the inside of the rim… and drops.
Swish!
It's good.
Blake Su drills the three at the buzzer to win it for the Suns!
For a split second, the arena falls silent. Then it erupts—deafening, explosive, like a super bomb detonating beneath the sea and sending shockwaves through the crowd.
"Game-winner! We won!"
"The Suns win!"
"A buzzer-beater from Blake Su!"
"That's insane! Absolutely insane!"
In that instant, fans leap to their feet, arms flailing. Some jump wildly, shouting and roaring, fully lost in the joy of a walk-off three.
"Wow!"
"Blake Su with the game-winning three!"
"Ahhh!"
On the Suns bench, Dragić and George spring up in disbelief, then rush onto the court to celebrate with Blake Su.
Curry and Steve Nash are already wrapped around him in a tight embrace, reveling in the victory.
Inside the ESPN broadcast booth.
Mike Breen's voice rises over the roar of the crowd:
"Blake Su for three… BANG! BANG! He knocks it down at the buzzer!"
Jeff Van Gundy chimes in, shaking his head in amazement.
"That's outstanding defense by Durant. You can't guard it any better than that. Blake Su just made a tremendous shot under enormous pressure."
Breen continues, excitement still in his tone but measured.
"A rookie center, from well beyond the arc, over Kevin Durant. That's a shot he'll never forget."
Van Gundy nods.
"And what poise. One-point game, 1.6 seconds left, tightly contested—he rises up and delivers. That's special."
...
Back at the arena.
The Suns' home crowd and players are in a complete frenzy. The atmosphere is at its absolute peak.
Meanwhile, the Thunder trio led by Durant stand frozen, staring blankly at the scene in front of them. It's real—undeniably real—yet they can't accept it.
A rookie center just beat them at the buzzer.
"With a three."
"How did this happen?!"
Harden stands there in a daze. Without his full signature beard yet, he still looks young—almost boyish. That youthful look only makes his stunned expression seem even more lost.
In a close-up, he might even look a little adorably bewildered.
Westbrook mutters a single sentence. Getting torched by a rookie is enough to make him question everything.
As for Durant, his face darkens. But he understands one thing clearly—the rookie who just buried that shot is a super prospect on par with "The Big Diesel" Shaq.
He knows he underestimated him.
He doesn't approach Blake Su. Instead, he watches from a distance as Blake Su soaks in the victory and murmurs softly,
"Blake Su, I was careless this time. Next time… when you come to my home court,
I'll face you seriously.
I'll take back today's loss. Every bit of it."
On the court.
"Blake Su, that was insane!"
Curry gives him an earnest thumbs-up. Even if he had taken that final three himself, he wouldn't have felt confident. He would've been nervous.
But Blake Su—
Not only did he make it, he made it on a high-difficulty fadeaway. And clutch threes aren't even his specialty.
On their very first night as teammates, Curry can't help but admire him.
"Just got lucky, just got lucky."
Blake Su scratches his head and grins sheepishly.
If anyone found out he'd actually been hoping to force overtime to chase a "40+ triple-double," he wonders if his teammates would beat him up.
Because that really had been his plan.
"Even though we won, I didn't complete the System task. No Peak Curry three-point ability… what a pity. What a pity."
While the Suns celebrate in wild jubilation, Blake Su quietly mourns his missed reward.
...
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